Chapter 1

Five years after my divorce, I received an old diary from my ex-husband.

It contained things he couldn't let me know until he died.

[An arranged marriage? Seriously? Over my dead body!]

[Chloe Sterling just had a kidney removed, she's not dying. She's just being overly dramatic.]

[Ridiculous. She actually thinks she's special, that this will make me want her back?]

[Where are you? Please, come back.]

[Chloe Sterling, I was wrong.]

[In the next life, I hope you never meet Liam Thorne again.]

I was getting Leo ready for preschool when Liam Thorne’s package arrived.

I tossed the delivery box onto the entryway table without a second thought.

My heart, which I thought had long been calm, still rippled with emotion.

Back home, I hesitated for a long time.

Eventually, I opened that old diary.

[July 25, 2015, Saturday, Sunny to Cloudy

My old-fashioned father actually wants me to get into an arranged marriage with that naive Sterling girl. Doesn't he know how much I can't stand her? And an arranged marriage with her? You’ve got to be kidding me. (Unless it was her sister, Willow Sterling, then maybe I'd consider it.)]

Only these few lines were on the first page of the diary. The handwriting was light and messy, reminding me of our younger days.

Our families, the Sterlings and the Thornes, had been intertwined for generations.

So Liam and I were practically childhood sweethearts.

Too bad I was raised as a daughter of the prominent Sterling family but wasn't their biological heir.

Willow Sterling was the true Sterling daughter, found after being separated from the family for years.

But after all, I was the daughter the Sterlings had raised for eighteen years, and I had a compliant personality.

The Sterlings decided not to send me away, letting me stay as the younger Sterling daughter.

The Thorne family also continued to treat me warmly.

Except for Liam Thorne.

He always picked on me, ever since we were kids. At three, he pulled my pigtails. At thirteen, he pulled my bra strap. Now he was mocking me for being a fraud. He was utterly annoying.

At my eighteenth birthday party, a fallen candle ignited balloons, causing a fire.

Unexpectedly, the annoying Liam Thorne was the first to rush over, shielding me from the flames and getting a large burn on his back.

From that moment on, I fell hopelessly in love with my hero.

For four years in college, I did everything to pursue him.

Friends in our circle called me Liam Thorne’s biggest simp, but I didn't care. I loved it.

After college, I begged my father for half a year before securing an arranged marriage with Liam Thorne.

I knew he wasn't happy; he scowled throughout the entire engagement party.

He only spoke to Willow.

Back then, I was foolish enough to believe.

Even if Liam was an iceberg, I could slowly melt him, making him fall in love with me.

It wasn't until after we were married that I found him and Willow kissing in our marital home.

The heartbreak felt like a dagger twisting in my chest, making me refuse to admit it.

He really didn't love me.

"Chloe Sterling, our marriage is purely to maintain family interests."

"As you can see, the one I love is your sister, Willow."

"How about, from today on, we live separate lives?"

I sat dejectedly on the floor, watching the mockery in his eyes, my hands clutching the carpet, feeling utterly powerless.

He left with Willow and didn’t come back for six months.

I searched the city like crazy for him.

I became the talk of the town as a deserted wife, scorned and ridiculed by everyone.

Until that night, I saw a drunken Liam Thorne outside a private club room.

He'd been dumped.

Willow had broken up with him.

I took him back home and nursed him back to health, treating him like he was the most precious thing.

"Chloe Sterling, are you really that stupid?"

"I think you're just pathetic. Saving you back then was a mistake."

"You're like a leech, impossible to shake off."

During that time, Liam drank all day long. Drunk or sober, he'd always say something to hurt me.

I took it all in. What else could I do? I loved him, hopelessly so.

I put down my car keys, walking to the living room while reading the diary. I opened the fridge and grabbed an ice-cold soda.

Curling up on the couch, I turned to the next page.